Gifting of gold coins for the promotion of insurance business by Max New York Life Insurance
17 Dec, 2012Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) seek information regarding the status of the four complaints made by him and also to know the outcome of any investigation done by the IRDA regarding the gifting of gold coins for the promotion of insurance business by Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided a copy of the response received from the insurer.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that he had not received a response regarding pertaining to the promotion of the insurance business by the above mentioned insurer by offering gold coins. The PIO submitted that the appellant could escalate the matter of his grievance through the Grievance Call Centre or by using the online Integrated Grievance Management System of IRDA.
View of CIC
The Commission held the matter is serious in nature and touches the very roots of the ethics required to be maintained in the insurance business and the IRDA cannot shy away from taking cognizance of such a serious allegation by a responsible senior citizen. The Commission directed the PIO to provide information regarding any action taken by the IRDA on this specific complaint made by the appellant and if such action has been initiated then the outcome of the action will be intimated to the appellant. Agreeing with the appellant, the Commission directed the IRDA 19(8)(iii) of the RTI Act to ensure that all insurers publish the clauses pertaining to the administrative costs of servicing the policy on their policy bond under section. In the interest of greater transparency and trust, the IRDA was directed to issue specific guidelines to the insurers to appropriately print the administrative costs of servicing the policy so that this information becomes is to the prospective buyers of the insurance policies at point of purchase.
Citation: Mr. Jai Kanwar v. IRDA in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2012/001700
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/878
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission